I guess it is a given these days to know that one ought not to simply open up any attachments in the email, as you can never quite tell whether there is some malicious code behind that file or not. For those who prefer to throw caution to the wind, it is bad enough that your computer gets infected with a virus or malware, but the situation just got a whole lot worse when you discover that your computer is connected to the rest of the corporation’s network, resulting in a potential security compromise on a far larger scale. One of the more recent malware to hit the scene would be Shamoon, where it allegedly overwrites the master boot record in order to render the computer useless.
Currently, speculation abounds that Shamoon spreads over an executable that is stashed away in an email attachment, and it will activate if opened on a Windows computer, Symantec researcher Liam O Murchu warned, “It can be difficult getting anything working again. If your computer gets hit and you can’t reboot, you have a real problem.”
Better be safe that sorry, and remember – a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, so hopefully you are not the weak link in your corporation.
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